Man United's Former CEO Swindled Out of &pound;7 Million

Mickey Stone may have disappeared off popular TV Show 'Hustle', but his 'long con' lessons have been well applied to in real life. Martin Edwards, former CEO of Manchester United, was swindled out of a hefty £7million. And that was before he got arrested.

The arrest came about as a result of an investigation into the dealings of Michael Brown, a London Lib Dem supporter pretending to be a bond dealer and the son of a Lord to win Edwards’ trust.

Edwards was told by Brown that his funds would be managed in an HSBC account, and that he would be receiving a rate of return between 36%-50%. It's amazing what greed can make you believe. Edwards told the press:

"[Brown]…talked about his history, the type of clients he had and the type of investment he was dealing in. He said he was dealing in bonds but was a fairly conservative trader. He was quite happy to make just one trade a month and said... he only dealt in triple A rated bonds which had practically no risk at all.”

Here's the irony: Before Brown spent the money, he donated £2.3m of the money to the Liberal Democrats, leaving Edwards’ “secure” account almost bone dry. Brown is now on the run from nine charges, including fraud and money laundering, and is being tried despite his absence.